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Lead miniatures?
- Thread starter stivo
- Start date
Lead = dead
You\'d better believe lead is dangerous! It\'s only dangerous however, if it gets in your body. Therefore do not ever, no matter how hungry you are, eat your miniatures!
Seriously, it is unlikely you will ever get enough lead inside you to do any serious harm, providing you take sensible precautions. Normal handling IMO is ok. providing you dont eat or suck the damn thing. However... if you regualarly use needle files, dremels, wire brushes, blunt edges of scalpels etc. You will create lead dust which will get on your fingers and settle on the floor. This can be a major problem. At my peaks of creativity, the floor around me changes colour when I am prepping models and this is metal dust. (Not necessarily lead, \'cos MOST modern figs are lead free). It is inadvisable therefore to eat, without washing your hands, or let small children/pets into the area.
The evil thing about lead is that your body will not flush it out, it simply accumulates until it reaches a dangerous/lethal level. As usual, common sense rules apply.
As a matter of interest, certain decadent ancient Romans would sprinkle powdered lead into their wine as it heightened the effect of the alcohol. Speeded up their demise as well.:|~
You\'d better believe lead is dangerous! It\'s only dangerous however, if it gets in your body. Therefore do not ever, no matter how hungry you are, eat your miniatures!
Seriously, it is unlikely you will ever get enough lead inside you to do any serious harm, providing you take sensible precautions. Normal handling IMO is ok. providing you dont eat or suck the damn thing. However... if you regualarly use needle files, dremels, wire brushes, blunt edges of scalpels etc. You will create lead dust which will get on your fingers and settle on the floor. This can be a major problem. At my peaks of creativity, the floor around me changes colour when I am prepping models and this is metal dust. (Not necessarily lead, \'cos MOST modern figs are lead free). It is inadvisable therefore to eat, without washing your hands, or let small children/pets into the area.
The evil thing about lead is that your body will not flush it out, it simply accumulates until it reaches a dangerous/lethal level. As usual, common sense rules apply.
As a matter of interest, certain decadent ancient Romans would sprinkle powdered lead into their wine as it heightened the effect of the alcohol. Speeded up their demise as well.:|~
Lead = soft
I have been working with minis for more time than I care to remember and I would hate to know what my lead levels are!
I can normally tell if a mini has a lead content or not. If it\'s shiny and hard, ie it is difficult to remove flash lines then it\'s probably a good bet that lead content is minimal or non existent. If it\'s dull and soft, if mould lines disappear at the very sight of a needle file, there is probably lead in it. Another rule of thumb, the older the mini, the more likely it is to contain lead. Another rule of thumb, the more litigatious the originating country is, the less likely it is to contain lead. As a neutral Englishman therefore I would be very surprised to find any American mini that contained lead. I wouldn\'t be at all surprised however to discover that certain European minis contained lead/depleted uranium etc. Once again. common sense prevails. I would rather paint an artistic lead/depleted uranium mini than a \'safe\' one with all the artistic merits of a dog turd.:bouncy:
Normally, minis make a big thing about being lead free, there will be a statement on the packaging somewhere. Equally, minis that contain lead should feature a warning.
I have been working with minis for more time than I care to remember and I would hate to know what my lead levels are!
I can normally tell if a mini has a lead content or not. If it\'s shiny and hard, ie it is difficult to remove flash lines then it\'s probably a good bet that lead content is minimal or non existent. If it\'s dull and soft, if mould lines disappear at the very sight of a needle file, there is probably lead in it. Another rule of thumb, the older the mini, the more likely it is to contain lead. Another rule of thumb, the more litigatious the originating country is, the less likely it is to contain lead. As a neutral Englishman therefore I would be very surprised to find any American mini that contained lead. I wouldn\'t be at all surprised however to discover that certain European minis contained lead/depleted uranium etc. Once again. common sense prevails. I would rather paint an artistic lead/depleted uranium mini than a \'safe\' one with all the artistic merits of a dog turd.:bouncy:
Normally, minis make a big thing about being lead free, there will be a statement on the packaging somewhere. Equally, minis that contain lead should feature a warning.
S
Sturmhalo
Guest
Don\'t worry whether your models contain lead or not! The whole lead free pewter thing just seems to be a bit of a selling point and a way of making sure that people who buy the figures a free of any responsibilty for their own health! It also means GW can target kids and sell their product as toys (I hate to see games like Warhammer in toy shops! Kinda makes everyone think that all minis are toys!).
As has been said before, don\'t eat your damn figures! Simple. Lead\'s safe as long as you\'re willing to handle it responsibly, and lets face it , the lead content of minis is pretty small anyway.
Personally I like lead minis coz they clean up so much more easily! Pewter takes F***ing ages to clean and even then you might still have areas that you just can\'t seem to file flat! Although lances and long spears are a bit more durable!
Pewter is said to be the metal of choice because it gives far better detail reproduction. Personally I don\'t think there\'s any difference between pewter and tin/lead alloy! The quality is just as good either way. It just costs more to buy your minis.
As has been said before, don\'t eat your damn figures! Simple. Lead\'s safe as long as you\'re willing to handle it responsibly, and lets face it , the lead content of minis is pretty small anyway.
Personally I like lead minis coz they clean up so much more easily! Pewter takes F***ing ages to clean and even then you might still have areas that you just can\'t seem to file flat! Although lances and long spears are a bit more durable!
Pewter is said to be the metal of choice because it gives far better detail reproduction. Personally I don\'t think there\'s any difference between pewter and tin/lead alloy! The quality is just as good either way. It just costs more to buy your minis.
